


10 Days Till Christmas

by TeenSpiriT10 (orphan_account)



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Crack Treated Seriously, Everyone’s a year older now, F/M, Familial Love, Fluff and Angst, For the most part, Found Family, Gen, Heavy language in chapter 9, Injury, Light-Hearted, Marriage Proposal, Mentioned anniversary, Mild Blood, My first fic shipping Gwen and Miles, One Shot Collection, One Word Prompts, Otherwise platonic relationships, Platonic other than Gwen/Miles and Peter B. Parker/Mary Jane Watson, Rated for mild violence, Shopping, Snowball fight (later), Sorry that I’m adding tags as I go, Underage Drinking, Yall know it, because I'm religious, but who cares, small religious reference, yup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21816139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/TeenSpiriT10
Summary: A collection of ten Spider-Fam Christmas one-shots.Prompts:10. Hot Chocolate9. Exams8. Shopping7. Lights6. Snowball fight5. Cold4. Movie3. Stockings2. Eggnog & Mistletoe1. Presents(Gifted in its complete version to AnimationNut, HopelesslyLost, and noxes, the authors that have invested me in this movie and inspired me to write.)Edit: So sorry about chapter 3! Just realized it was missing some dialogue 😓 I have no idea how that happened. It’s fixed now.
Relationships: Miles Morales/Gwen Stacy, Peter B. Parker/Mary Jane Watson
Comments: 57
Kudos: 91





	1. Hot Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnimationNut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimationNut/gifts), [HopelesslyLost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopelesslyLost/gifts), [noxes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxes/gifts).



> Was gonna make a series but now I'm not bc I'm applying for jobs. Wish me luck guys! <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spiders drink some hot chocolate on a freezing day.

Peter B spun around with two boxes of Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix in either hand.

“Marshmallows or no?”

“Marshmallows,” all three teens that were seated around his coffee table replied.

“Wait, do you have the kind with the rainbow marshmallows?”

Peter snorted as he rummaged around for clean mugs, “No.”

He inclined his head towards Ham, who didn’t look up from his book. The pig waved his hand in the air and decided the same. Peter nodded sagely at the choice and grabbed one of the white packets for himself.

He handed Peni her hot chocolate first, which she took gratefully in the long sleeves of her red sweater that covered her hands.

“Thanks,” she said politely, smiling at the warmth the mug offered as she cradled it closer. She watched the marshmallows dissolve in the hot drink as she stirred in a spoon of sugar.

Gwen made a face at that and carefully blew onto hers, before setting it down on a coaster to let it cool off for a minute. Miles, who was looking at his phone in one hand, brought his mug to his mouth and sipped absentmindedly. He flinched as it burned his tongue and dropped his phone, cupping a hand to his mouth.

Ham took his own and went back to his book after thanking Peter. Peni was in mid-chug of her cocoa when she perked up at the sound of a portal opening, called by the warm hum of spider-sense. She jumped off the ground as soon as she heard heavy footfalls in the kitchen. Gwen and Miles stood up after her to greet Noir. Peter and Ham stood back, sensing something was off.

“Noir!” Peni called out, ready to throw her arms around him as she turned the corner, and he’d stumble like he always did and then return her embrace, but she skidded on the puddle of sludge that was pooled around his feet.

Looking up, she caught him staring down at her through a shattered hole in his goggles; he looked like a wet cat. His trench coat was dripping with water. He shivered violently, pressing a firm hand to his left arm, where there were three slashes torn down the grey fabric. His chest was pouring blood, though it wasn’t worse off than his arm. Horrified, Peni drew in a sharp gasp. Miles and Gwen had the same reaction.

“Peni,” he croaked weakly.

His legs gave out from underneath him as he took a step towards them. He pitched foward. Peter came in and rushed up in time to catch him. Benjamin hissed at the contact of his chest against Peter’s, and grunted when he wrapped his arms around his battered body to hold him up. Peter looked hopelessly to Ham as he readjusted his hold and slung Noir’s injured arm over his shoulder. Gwen took his other arm, and they helped him limp to the couch.

Miles and Peni were gravely silent as Ham peeled off Noir’s mask and removed his glasses, revealing his nose which was running a sticky torrent. There was a black eye where his goggles were broken.

“You’re bleeding like crazy!” Ham exclaimed, reaching his hands underneath his head, “Lift your head up.” Benjamin winced as his neck was propped up against the armrest, but at least he wasn’t swallowing his own blood anymore.

Miles took a handful of tissues from a tissue box and gave them to him. “You okay man?” he asked sadly.

Noir gave him a pained sideways glance in response. Miles inwardly cringed.

“Stupid question.”

Peni took the spot beside Miles, squeaking out, “What happened?”

He flapped his hand in a dismissive gesture and coughed. “You all don’t need to worry ‘bout me,” he said hoarsely, “I slipped and hit my nose when I came into my apartment.”

Ham rolled his eyes. “That’s not the only thing that happened,” he muttered.

Benjamin ignored him, reaching out his good hand to brush a strand of hair out of Peni’s face. “I’m sorry doll,” he apologized.

“Were you fighting the Lizard?” questioned Gwen seriously as she leaned in on her elbows. The private eye turned his head to her and sighed.

“Yeah,” he exhaled a keening wheeze, “it ain’t aces.”

“You should have called us for backup.”

Benjamin narrowed his eyes. “My universe—“

“Is too dangerous for you too. You need help,” Gwen finished for him angrily and stared him down. The spiders didn’t say another word until Peter came back into the room. Benjamin shifted uncomfortably at the stitches in Peter’s hand.

“Get outta here,” he told them ruefully.

“But—“

“It’ll be okay,” Peter assured them. Gwen nodded solemnly and took Miles and Peni back with her to her dimension.

* * *

Benjamin stepped out of the portal silently. His pale grey chest was bare and wrapped like a present. He shivered at the tempature drop coming into Gwen’s room. He came to see the kids, but a closer look revealed that they were asleep, huddled in a bundle of blankets and pillows on the floor. He rounded their small fort and lifted up a blanket, then climbed in.

Miles’ eyes fluttered open and widened. “Noir?” he balked in a whisper.

“Hey probie.” Benjamin pulled the boy to him and tugged up a blanket. Peni and Gwen shifted at the noise. They lifted their heads up to look at him. Peni snuggled to his side immediately, mindful of his arm. Noir took Gwen on his other side and rested a hand on her blonde head.

“You’re okay,” Peni stated in relief— the way she said it was more of a reassurance for himself.

He nodded. “Go back to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an L. I can never find good cut off points! And then when I end the chapter, it always is cheesy broooo. I’m hopeless. 
> 
> The prompts are mine, no one gave them to me. Thought it would be fun to not let y’all know what happens in the chapter.
> 
> Y’all GIMME the darn likes and comments or Santa’s slidin’ down the chimney to clobber u with the coal bag on Christmas. I’m not even joking. (Also is the text double spaced for y’all or is it just normal? Please tell me so I won’t have huge gaps between my text)


	2. Exams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen studies for exams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time I’m gonna take away the spaces, & see if it’s bunched up. Also I just realized that this fandom is pretty much dying since it’s been a year so maybe writing isn’t such a good idea buuut idc

Gwen dug two fingers into her temple in frustration as her phone rang. She bit back her irritation and answered the call, the phone in between her ear and her shoulder while she continued writing.

“Hey, you still hanging out tonight?”

Pursing her lips, she declined, “I know I said I would but I’m feeling really tired so, rain check?”

“That’s fine. You okay?”

“Yeah I’m good. Thanks Pete.”

Stressed and burnt out, Gwen slumped in her chair. She set her head down in her open textbook and closed her eyes. The pages of the book were cold and provided a few seconds of rest, until she righted herself and continued studying to prevent her eyes from closing.

Mid-terms started tomorrow and would stretch on until Friday. The tests themselves were not that hard if she spent some time studying, but that wasn’t the issue. After the pound of homework and essays that she had to plow through before the end of the semester, she was less than willing to do anything school related.

She used to study with her Peter. Giving up, Gwen closed the book and slid it to the edge of her desk, then stretched to turn her desk lamp off. She slid into bed.

* * *

“Gwen!” Miles called out as he stumbled into her room. He tripped over the clutter of pillows and blankets from yesterday.

Gwen awoke to Miles cursing in Spanish, and muttered something rude before flipping over and drawing the covers up to her ears. Miles set the food in his hands down and shut up, but didn’t leave as she hoped he would. He tip-toed to her bed and lightly poked the mass of covers she was under. Gwen turned her head to give him a deadly glare.

Miles wasn’t fazed. “I brought food,” he whispered.

The blonde stirred; she glimpsed the bag sitting on her desk through her curtain of hair.

“I was trying to sleep Miles,” she grumbled, trying to sound annoyed— but she was grinning behind her blanket, showing her tooth gap.

He pouted. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” she replied, getting up to stretch, “I need to study anyway.”

Gwen sat in her chair and grumbled. The unfinished reviews greeted her while Miles unpacked the to-go bag. She smelled the air.

“Is that Chinese?”

Through a mouthful of noodles, Miles hummed and handed her a box. The corner of her lips lifted in a small smile. He slid her a paper package of wooden chopsticks with his free hand.

“Thanks.” Gwen opened the flaps and dug in. The younger spider grinned at her until something caught his eye. He plucked a stack of flashcards off of her composition book. The first card was labeled “anatomy vocab”. He sifted through the stack, eventually coming back to the start.

“What’s the axillary?” he asked, reading off her perfectionist handwriting. Gwen didn’t look up from her food.

“The armpit,” she provided automatically.

He nodded in approval as he flipped the card to see the answer. He moved on to the next card, “The hypogastric region?”

Now Gwen gave him a perplexed look. She paused to swallow. “What are you doing?” she questioned.

Miles stared back at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I’m helping you study,” he shoved a bitein his mouth, “what’s the hypogastric region?”

Gwen startled when the first words hit her. She didn’t answer— Miles gave her a few seconds to reply before he asked if she needed help.

She snapped out of her stupor. “Oh, sorry, I was just—“ she paused. Excited but cautious at the idea of having a having a friend to study with, she stuttered out, “the- the lower middle portion of the body.”

They continued on until they reached the end of the stack. Miles stayed longer to help her with her reviews, solving physics problems with her and searching up quotes from _Lord Of The Flies_.

She opened her binder, clipped the finished reviews into the metal rings, then snapped it shut and stuffed it into her backpack. When she looked up she caught Miles watching her, his face propped up by a fist. Gwen raised an eyebrow. She did a mental check to feel for any Chinese food that might be on her face.

“ _What?_ ” she finally snapped.

Miles floundered. A deep blush swept his face. “Nothing, just staring,” was his hasty recovery. He straightened and stood up.

“Kay..” Gwen scrutinized him. He awkwardly smiled back.

“I should go but, if you ever need help?” he offered as he pointed a thumb behind him.

She smirked. “Thanks Miles.”

Miles backstepped into the portal and left. Gwen laughed to herself. She didn’t notice the pink that had crept up to her cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comment pls, feedback is fuel


	3. Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Peni go shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my shortest one as of yet, um, I think? I’m kinda going fast so they’re tapering down a bit in length as I go. 
> 
> Today is my first finals dayyyyyy 
> 
> Haha fun

On the tip of her toes, Peni stood on the granite of Peter’s counter to reach the cabinet that held the hot chocolate, but his stash was in need of restocking. She slammed the cabinet closed with a sullen pout.

“You’re out of hot chocolate,” she complained with a glare. She flipped off the counter.

”I know. I’m about to go to the store—“

”Can I come with you?”

Peter huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets. He didn’t look at her because he knew it would be just like when Miles made him feel guilty after he took his goober. Peni scowled; thinking he was ignoring her, she reached to obnoxiously wave a hand in his face. Peter caught her wrist. She looked up at him— something of an effort because of their height difference— and sighed dejectedly. He rolled his eyes and dropped her arm.

“Fine, as long as you don’t bug me kid,” he conceded.

Peni happily followed him as he shrugged on a coat. He tossed one to her— too big— then a pair of gloves— the same.

“It’ll be in and out,” the girl promised.

“Sure.”

The walk to the store was short but bitter. Peni kept close to Peter in the crowd of people rushing to get out of the frigid temperatures. She discreetly glanced up at him. His expression was a mix of bored and mundane, but he lightened up when he noticed her curious gaze.

The grocery shop sat decked out in red, blue, purple, green, and yellow lights, strung up round its old exterior, on the corner of the block. Patrons streamed in and out, marked by the tinny ringing of the bell hanging on the door. Peter strode in and spotted the hot chocolate mix nearly sold out in its respective aisle.

“Can you grab two of the marshmallow ones?” he asked Peni, pointing to them. Peni nodded and he turned back to the front of the store to get a basket.

Walking down the aisle, her oversized coat arms flapping around, Peni nabbed two boxes of marshmallow Swiss Miss. She was about to return when she spotted her favorite kind, covered up in the blind-spot of the shelf.

“You got it?” the older spider questioned as he came back.

Peni handed him the boxes, but Peter counted three. He read the label on the extra one with multicolored charm style marshmallows.

“Marshmallow Madness— no, put this back.”

“Don’t be a Scrooge,” she retorted. He stood unwavering. She drew herself up.

“Please?”

The cashier raised an eyebrow as she finished scanning the heaping stack of items in Peter’s basket. He reluctantly passed her his card, glaring at Peni all the while. She returned it with a cheeky grin.

B shoved the bags of junk in her hands with a huff and held open the door for her. The bell jingled, a whoosh of freezing air blew into the shop. It was starting to snow. They walked out on the street.

“I don’t get payed enough at my job as it is..” Peter grumbled, poking the bag that Peni had hooked on her right arm.

Peni shivered, forgetting to reply, distracted by the cold. She hugged herself. Peter sighed and took the bags from her, before tucking her against his side. She smiled up at him warmly. He watched the snowflakes pepper her hair on the way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s the rainbow marshmallows mentioned in the 1st chapter, and they r tasty af
> 
> Kudos and comment 💖 I appreciate it


	4. Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just had a bruh moment bc my browser glitched out and didn’t save my chapter...
> 
> Ughhh... I hate Thursdays. But at least my pre-ap chemistry final was easy :) it was all multiple choice. A good Christmas gift.

Ham stretched down to place the nine-pointed star on top of the towering plastic tree. The star teetered dangerously, sagging the tip of the plastic pine. He re-adjusted it with a finger, and dropped off of the ceiling while Miles wrapped the garland around the tree, hanging down from a web and swinging in a circle. Ham plugged the string of wires in. The tiny suns flickered awake. Soft, white light warmed the room. Miles walked down the walls to stand by Porker.

“It’s perfect,” Ham wistfully admired.

“Yeah man, but it could be better.”

The pig gave Miles a somewhat offended look. “How’s that?”

“If you let me spray paint—“ Miles tried, but the cartoon shot up a hand.

“I’m not letting you come within one inch of my tree with spray paint,” Ham quickly informed him. He didn’t want his tree to look like an art student’s pet-project.“No offense.”

Miles shrugged. “Your loss.”

Ham opened another box and tugged out a heap of tangled multicolored lights that almost dwarfed him in size.

“Help me put these lights up.” He threw the pile to Miles, who helplessly caught them.

Some stray wires spilled onto the floor on either side of his arms. Miles shifted the lights to gain a better grip. Ham layed a pack of hooked nails on the floor and searched for a hammer, while the 14-year-old stood awkwardly. After a minute, Ham returned and gestured at Miles to follow as he passed. Miles did so, and when he walked up the wall, the lights hung down from his body as if he were a tree.

Porker began to hammer in the nails in a line at the top of his wall, bordering the room. Miles strung the lights over the nails as he went.

Ham accidentally slammed the hammer onto his thumb and yelled out a stream of frustrated curses, but Miles, at first startled, couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“How did your mouth even make those sounds?”

Ham continued hammering, being extra careful to avoid his red, throbbing thumb, “It’s tragic, but you can’t really swear in my world,” he elaborated in a bored tone. “It’s all censored.”

“Seriously?” Miles contemplated the news for a moment before loudly testing it out to produce the same result. Ham stiffened and whipped around to slap the teen’s face.

“Don’t try it in my house!” he scolded.He turned back to his work with a huff.

Miles cupped his cheek in disbelief. “Dude, _ow_.”

He cautiously resumed following Ham, but a wire snaked under his foot. Slipping on it, he yelped, hands flying up. He fell back off of the wall and crashed on the floor. The lights scattered around him. Ham looked back at him, unimpressed.

Miles groaned.

* * *

“It’s plugged in!” Ham repeated frustratedly.

They finished the lights, but they only dimly lit up when plugged in. Miles rounded Porker; he crouched down by the outlet and eyeballed it.

“Maybe it’s the outlet?” he suggested by a point of the finger.

Ham plugged and unplugged the string of lights. Sparks flew, though the same unsuccessful result was produced.

“Hold this.” He gave the plug to Miles, then removed the white cover of the outlet to look at it.

Miles leaned against the wall. He boredly ran his thumb over the plug. To his confusion, the lights flickered on and off. Ham noticed and turned around.

“What are you doing?”

Miles wrapped his hand around the metal ends and sent a gentle volt of electricity through the cord as an experiment. The bulbs came to life. His mouth split into an excited grin. He knelt down and pressed a hand to the outlet, then pulsed out the same light current. Ham took the plug and stuck it into the wall again. The bulbs turned on, fully shining a rainbow of colors.

The pig gave a joyful laugh and hopped onto Miles’ shoulder to tussle his hair. He shook his head in disbelief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Me rummaging around in the fridge, looking for a snack but finding nothing other than cheese so I put it on a piece of bread & microwave it, then slap sour cream on it) ((my actual breakfast this morning))
> 
> You: -.-... ?
> 
> Me: Oh sup, you actually read this far?
> 
> (Ok I’m gonna stop I just wanted to ironically do what I used to do in my author’s notes XD)
> 
> Anyway sorry this one is so short. I just find it hard to write Ham, he hardly has a rounded character in the movie, because he’s mainly for comic relief, and on top of that he has little screen time. But I still needed a chapter w/ Ham so here u go. I don’t think what Miles did with the outlet would work but whatever XD


	5. Snowball Fight!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter B, Noir, Gwen, Miles and Peni all end up in a snowball fight during what was supposed to be a casual late-night walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter you wanted. The chapter I wanted. Longer. More action. Noir-based. And no Ham (idk bout you on that one but I’m happy cuz writing him = hell)
> 
> goddamn ;) here it is y’all. Sorry it’s late. 
> 
> And btw y’all will probably not get the meme reference Miles makes in this fic so I got the link it’s like a 1 min vid: https://youtu.be/mtjkqrvUg_4

Noir had been through many holiday seasons. It was a bitter time that he associated with wet, freezing weather, increased criminal activity, and a sinking lonliness. He ritually lit matches on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, he would go out as Peter Parker and pass by store fronts covered in white lights, and look inside. Hardly anyone was ever on the clock, most at home. On New Years Eve, he took no breaks from hunting on the streets. And when midnight passed, he acknowledged it as another year he was lucky enough to live through.

The holidays in any other world were something entirely different.

In Peter’s universe, it was just as cold as his, but the air still had a warmth about it that followed him wherever he went. In part, it was the colors: the way they covered every inch of the city, illuminating electric billboards, blinking inside Christmas lights— headlights too, in traffic that crawled across the streets of Times Square, shining down on the run over ice-turned-sludge on the road. The majority of it was—

“Yeet!”

Benjamin flinched as a snowball— tightly packed, more ice than snow— cut through the darkness and exploded against his chest, which had just barely finished healing. He looked up and Gwen cackled at his startled expression. He presumed she was the one who threw it. Miles and Peni joined in the giggle fit. He shot them a somewhat indignant glare, his lopsided glasses cracking them up further.

He chuckled and bent down to scoop up a ball of pristine snow. He packed a little ice into it, then let it fly with precision back towards Gwen. She ducked out of the way and smirked triumphantly, until out of nowhere, Peter B, a blur of thick red sweatshirt and jeans, heaved a hunk of snow almost the size of his head at her. She squawked at the impact. The oldest spider howled out in boisterous laughter while Peni and Miles cleared the way for Gwen to stumble back and fall on her butt, obviously having no intentions to help her up. The situation, which started innocently enough, quickly turned into a free-for-all.

The five spiders scattered across the park. Anything passed as cover in the battlefield of snow and park benches. Gwen, Miles, and Peni flanked each other behind a cluster of trees.

“There’s Peter!” pointed out Peni in a whisper-shout. They peered over their shoulders, spotting him behind a tree a few yards away. He already had a sizeable stack of snowballs.

“Do you see Noir?” Miles asked.

Gwen shook her head, negative. “No, I haven’t seen him yet.”

“Shh! Guys!”

The teens whipped around. They jumped at what they thought was a heavy footfall in the snow. There was nothing there. Just the dark.

“You go first.” Peni pushed Miles out. He scowled as she almost revealed his cover. He scrambled back.

“No! You do it.”

“Just turn invisible,” urged Gwen.

“There are people here!”

“Then don’t let them see you!”

Miles groaned. “Fine,” he finally acquiesced. He flipped the hood of his jacket over his head. “Bravo six, going dark.” He disappeared into the dimly lit background.

Gwen snorted. Peni didn’t get the reference but quietly cheered him on as he crept around the base of pines, claiming vantage point on top of a post.

Miles heard crunching below him and spotted Peter, who found Peni and Gwen. He chased after them with his left arm cradling snowballs and his right chucking them with considerable force at the girls. They shrieked and pelted him back, trying to put some distance between them. Miles grinned from his perch. Once Peter was in range he positioned his legs to jump—

“ _Surprise attack!_ ”

But instead a hard heap of snow collided with his back, and he gasped and tumbled down into the snow with a muffled slap.

Peter wheezed loudly as Noir came out from the shadows. “You,” he had to stopto laugh again, “You thought you three were the only ones on a team?”

Benjamin pulled down his scarf from his mouth to talk, revealing the smugness behind it. “I was watchin’ ya the whole time.”

Miles rose out of the snow and glared. Gwen’s mouth dropped open. Flustered, Peni bent down, scooping up as much snow as her gloves could hold. She angrily threw them at Noir. He blocked some of the blows with his hands, but one hit him square on the glasses. Peter winced for his teammate while Peni bounced enthusiastically. Gwen and Miles shouted encouragement until Noir took off his glasses, wiped them on his sweater, and replaced them.

“You’re askin’ for it now,” he mock warned. He dashed towards them. They backed away, hitting him with snow until he got too close. Peter rounded them from the back, keeping them fairly cornered. Eventually, Benjamin caught Peni, seizing her by the waist. She squeaked and kicked at him. He kept her well out of range of “home”, not taking any chances. He knew it was something Gwen would do. Taking some particularly icy snow, he stuffed it down the back of her jacket and she immediately shivered at the contact.

“ _Hey!_ ” she twisted to land a kick straight to his gut. It momentarily knocked out his breath. His vision went a little fuzzy and he winced, letting her go to clutch at the healing wound. Peni gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. “I’m so sorry!!”

Noir stood straighter, fixing his eyes on her. She thought he was mad until he reached down to swing her on to his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Peter had Miles by the hood; he placed a handful of white into it and yanked it back over his face. Miles punched at the air, not able to see where the older Spider-Man was. Gwen took advantage. She lunged at him and wrestled him into the snow; his back connected with the cold padding, and he began to laugh. He tore off his hood with a huff.

“I thought you were on my side!” he gasped out. Gwen shook her head.

“I work alone now.”

She was about to push his face into the snow when she heard Peter shout behind her. Unexpectedly, he picked her up and placed her in front of him. She didn’t know why until she got hit multiple times. The numbing cold made her recoil and she struggled against Peter as Noir, with Peni on top of his shoulders, continued the assault.

“Peter!” He dodged her attempts to hit him. “I’m not your human shield—“

Benjamin hucked a ball at Peter’s face. He loosened his grip, thus allowing Gwen the room she needed to kick him in the shin and run away. He grunted and partially fell. Noir handed Peni a few snowballs and let her go wild. B shielded his face with an arm, taking a few hesitant steps towards them, before yanking Peni off of her perch. She fell back in the snow, snapping her head up to see Peter tackle her partner to the ground.

They rolled around, both trying to bury the other in the snow. They spat insults and jabs at each other. Peter managed to get some dirt-mixed snow flung into Noir’s mouth. He spit it out back at him, pushing him off with a foot with such a force that he flew a few feet away from him. Miles scrambled out of Peter B’s crash zone. The snow cushioned his heavy fall and shot upwards in a cloud of flurries.

Benjamin laughed so hard that his sides hurt because they were straining against the bandages under his clothes. It was contagious; even Peter started to crack up once he emerged from the snow.

“Traitor,” he grumbled jokingly. Benjamin simply flashed him a smirk.

Miles and Gwen helped Peter up. Peni giggled at the state of his clothes— it was like someone threw a bucket of white paint at him. But finally, when the last of the laughter died down, the spiders realized how cold it was. Their fingers were tingling, raw and numb. Miles sneezed.

“Bless you."

“Thank you.”

Peter stretched. “We should head in,” he turned to the black-and-white spider, “you like marshmallows in your hot chocolate?”

Benjamin contemplated the question. He hadn’t just sat down and had a mug of hot chocolate in his universe in a long time—

His lips curled into a hesitant smile. “Sure.”

—but this wasn’t his universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The elf on the shelf is watching you. Jk. Santa isn’t real. 
> 
> .....unless? 🤔
> 
> “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake...”
> 
> Ew ok I’ll just stop right there. Btw, kudos and comments are a very good gift to give 💝!!


	6. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miles thinks he just has a cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I’m fairly certain that near to no one reading this has also read my previous sick fic with Miles, this line from the chapter “He didn’t want a repeat of the last time he was sick. He’d rather not have anyone from his spider-family find him unconscious.” Is a reference to something I wrote a long time ago. It’s a sickfic but I don’t suggest reading it it’s pretty cringe. 
> 
> Sorry this took so long :((

Pretending to be sick was something Miles seldom tried anymore. When he was younger the attempts were frequent. They tapered down to nothing as he learned that, majority of the time, his mom would find out and send him to school anyway. On the other hand, feigning wellness around Rio Morales required years practice of finessing, but at least it was not virtually impossible.

Now he sat crouched, legs folded under him, regretting his decision to avoid his mom’s overbearing nature and secretly put patrol above bed. His head felt like it was about to explode. He pressed his freezing palms to his burning face, the rest of his body shuddered with undulating chills. He knew that the last thing that he needed to be adding on to whatever he had, which at first felt like nothing more than a cold, was the weather and physical exertion. Swinging on to the roof already sapped more energy than he expected.

Miles pulled his phone out. _I should call for help on this._

He called Gwen for all but two seconds before he pursed his lips. “I should not do that.”

Her icon disappeared as he hung up and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He cursed in Spanish, knowing that later she would try to call him back, figure out what was going on— he swung off of the roof to a lower position. Best to forget about it for now. Focus.

Invisible, he observed the men unloading the truck. On the outside, it was transport for some chip company. A man, bearded and lankier than the others, popped a bag open and pinched out tiny bags of white powder. Out of nowhere, Miles began to sweat. Another chill had him clenching his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. His foot slipped on the wall he stuck to. He sucked in a panicked breath at the loud scuff it made. The bearded man looked suspicious. He twisted his head to scan above with calculating eyes. Miles didn’t miss how his hand shot to his waist, where his gun was holstered. He froze up. Thankfully, after a minute, the guy returned to the bags.

Miles planned his actions carefully. He didn’t want a repeat of the last time he was sick. He’d rather not have anyone from his spider-family find him unconscious. He waited until the dealers, sellers, and buyers alike in evil, gathered up in one spot to discuss the quality of the opioid.

But he sneezed. His muscles tensed as they all looked up, whipping out their guns. Miles was still invisible, but now they knew Spider-Man was watching them. That made a difference. He lost the element of surprise. He had no choice but to come out fighting. Miles jumped down, leg jutted out, and struck one to the ground with a kick. Gunfire went off in all directions. He showed himselfto make the fight more coherent, but he wasn’t out of the woods by a long shot.

He swept a leg under a man, spun around, dodged a bullet, flipped, webbed three up, and ran across the side of the truck over their heads. They sprayed shots at him. He felt like he was about to pass out. Adrenaline kept him in the fight long enough to avoid having a hole punched through him. He landed a hard sock to the bearded man’s jaw, jumped off the ground, and ducked beneath the last guy’s legs. He wrapped them and the truck in webbing.

He stumbled to a wall and heavily leaned against it. If his head was exploding before, his whole body was now. His lungs were going to burst. He held his chest and wheezed like a fish out of water. Some time passed and he calmed down enough to breathe easier. The relief he felt was enough to distract him from how miserable he was. He picked up a discarded phone on the ground and dialed 911, but before he could finish a gunshot rang out. If it wasn’t for his spider-sense, the bullet would have carved straight through his head. Instead it flew past him and embedded in the truck, destroying the metal around it. Miles whipped around and dodged another bullet. This was the tallest buyer he had seen so far.

 _He miscounted_.

Miles ran at the buyer, staying a moving target until he was close enough to shock him with an outstretched hand. The current died on its way out. He yelped as he was seized by the neck and pressed against the wall. Miles scrabbled for a grip, but it seemed his strength was failing him. The memory of dangling on the edge of Mrs. Parker’s roof, held by the neck by Uncle Aaron, surfaced. He froze long enough for the man to press a gun to his temple. No sudden moves now.

“What’s wrong kid? Don’t the good guys always win? Wanna hit me with a quip?” The buyer set a heavy finger on the trigger. Miles shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut. He was too tired to think. The grip on his neck tightened. His lungs were going to pop. The finger squeezed down. The shot echoed through the closed off street, and the man dropped dead with a bullet in his side. Miles’ ears rang, and he fell, taking gasping breaths to restore the oxygen he lost.

Ham cursed loudly. Noir’s heart thrummed in his chest so fast he thought he was having a heart attack. He lowered his smoking gun and held Gwen and Peni back with an arm as Peter B rushed to Miles’ side. Peter reached under Miles’ armpits, pulled him up to his chest. Miles wheezed, nearly hyperventilating. The elder had no intentions of sticking around and took Miles to his apartment immediately.

He was so damn _warm_. He draped him on his bed and peeled off his mask to feel his forehead, which was practically a furnace. He drew in a furious, shuddering breath at the dark marks forming on the kid’s neck.

“Ham, can you get me a thermometer? Look behind the mirror in the bathroom,” he instructed. He started to strip Miles of the hoodie and shorts over his suit.

“I got it,” Ham replied. Gwen sat beside Miles. He blearily looked up at her pained face. What she was saying went in and out, pulsing between too loud and silent in tandem with the ringing in his ears.

“Were you calling me for help? I should’ve called you back but I was busy—“

He didn’t hear the rest of her lilting sentence as Peni’s talking overlapped hers. “Holy crap, you shot him..”

“There wasn’t another way,” Noir told her darkly. Tears sprang out of Miles’ eyes. He didn’t register when he started crying but everyone else seemed to stop like he pressed pause on a remote.

“Woah, woah,” Peter said gently; Miles relaxed a bit at the cold Peter’s hand offered on top of his hair, “I’m right here bud.”

Ham came back with the thermometer. Miles opened his mouth reflexively. It felt like he was at home with his parents doting on him. When it beeped, someone read out the temperature, but he wasn’t able to hear it, comfortable enough to fall asleep.

* * *

When Miles woke up, he found he was the only one in the room. A wet cloth slid off of his forehead and landed with a ‘ _plap_ ’ on the sheets. He stared at it blankly. There were overlapping voices in the kitchen, hushed and obviously discussing something serious. He cringed when he realized what they were talking about. His neck ached in empathy.

They must’ve noticed he was awake because Peter spoke one last unintelligible sentence before walking over. He sat on the edge of the bed. Miles looked away.

Peter was silent for a long time. He finally chose to calmly ask, “How are you feeling kid?”

Miles didn’t know what to say. He shrugged. That ached. “Better. Not dead.”

”Yeah, not dead. You got lucky. Lucky we saw your vitals in time.”

Miles laughed without mirth. “Yeah.”

An awkward moment passed. Peter seemed to be having trouble looking at him.

“When did you get sick?”

Another shrug. “I dunno man, after the snowball fight? I was probably sick before that, but it definitely didn’t help,” he paused to clench the sheets, “I thought it was just a cold.”

“Yeah, you thought it was just a cold and decided you’d go out on patrol,” he said casually, like there wasn’t anything wrong with that, like he agreed with him, “but it wasn’t a cold Miles.”

“I know Peter,” Miles grumbled. He was beginning to find this talk annoying.

When he felt the glare directed at him he tried to get off of the bed, but was pushed back with a surprising amount of force. Peter exploded. “He had a gun against your head Miles!” he yelled. Gwen and Peni shrunk back. Noir and Ham exchanged a look. “I just don’t get it! You called Gwen! Why didn’t you ask for help?!”

Miles was on the verge of tears. “I didn’t want you to get mad,” was his meek answer.

“Seriously?!” Peter roared. Miles clenched the sheets tighter.

“Peter,” Benjamin spoke coldly. Peter stopped to look towards the kitchen and saw him with a firm grip on Peni’s shoulders, who was clearly scared. Gwen and Ham just looked deeply sad and tense. Noir’s glare brought him back to his senses and his eyes widened.

He sighed. “Ok. I would’ve been a little mad, sure, but not as mad as I am now,” he said much softer. Miles still didn’t lift his head.

“Why?” Peter asked again helplessly. His voice faltered at the end.

“I don’t know,” the teen replied distantly.

Miles yelped as he was pulled into a crushing hug. He pressed his head into his shoulder and began to shake. Peter exhaled a strained, but relieved breath that he didn’t realize he was holding in. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just meant to be a fluffy sick chapter but look what I did 😭 I love angst tho 
> 
> Kudos and comment pleaaaaase 0.0


	7. Movie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spiders watch “A Christmas Carol”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAMNNNNNN ITTTTTTT I FAILED. ;( I FAILED! I couldn’t do TEN days?! -fat inhale- damn it. Aight whatever it’s just one day. I might catch back up. Let’s pray my motivation doesn’t dissolve again 👌 frickin’ minnnnt

“Move!”

Ham raised an eyebrow at Gwen before he sunk into her spot even further and closed his eyes. “I called dibs on this spot.”

“First of all, I was just sitting there,” Gwen said, scoffing, “second of all, dibs is so outdated.”

Ham frowned. “Are you calling me old?”

“What’s dibs?” Noir deadpanned from the kitchen. He didn’t really sound like he wanted to know, focused on finding the popcorn rather than their little argument. Gwen glanced back.

“Doesn’t matter because no one uses it,” she answered.

“Will you guys shut up and watch the movie?” Peter grouched, turning up the volume. The ghost of Jacob Marley’s voice boomed. Ham covered his sensitive ears.

“Jeez! Turn it down will you?”

“Yeah, chill Ebenezer.”

Peter flinched when a Cheeto smacked his cheek. He turned to scowl at Gwen, but lowered the volume.

A few minutes later, Peni appeared— late— in the room via portal, cradling an armful of not-at-all healthy junk food. She stopped and looked around in confusion. "Where’s Miles?”

Peter gave her a flat look. “He’s _sick?_ ” he reminded her, somewhat annoyed by the question, “I told him to stay home.”

"Oh.” She smacked a free palm against her forehead. “Right. Um, where’s Noir?”

"I’m, um,” a hesitant voice called out from the kitchen, “in here doll.”

Peni set her things down and slowly walked into the kitchen, eyebrows creasing when she got closer. “It’s burning!” she exclaimed in exasperation. Benjamin looked utterly confused and helpless as she shoved him out of the way and opened the microwave.

“It’s what?” Peter paused the movie to see what she was taking about. A foul, heavy aroma entered the main room. He groaned and pushed off of the couch. Ham and Gwen followed curiously. They arrived in time to see Peni pinch out a smoking bag of hopelessly shriveled popcorn.

Ham cracked up, Peter’s gaping at his smoking microwave was too much. Flustered, Noir promptly whacked him upside the head, putting an end to it.

“Hey! How about you come at me like a man?”

"Shut up,” The monochrome spider grumbled. He crossed his arms and sighed as Peni flung the hot object onto the counter as quick as she could, but her fingers were already screaming at her that she didn't do it fast enough. Upon impact with the smooth granite surface, the popcorn bag split open, spilling burnt kernels everywhere.

"Wow, that's.. singed," Gwen remarked with a whistle, picking up a cooled off piece of black popcorn.

Benjamin’s face burned with embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry fellas.”

“How long did you cook it for? The bag says two minutes!” questioned Peter.

“Uh—“

“The microwave read fifteen minutes when I got here.”

“Did you set it for twenty minutes?”

Benjamin shrugged. “Maybe,” he admitted sheepishly, “I wasn’t paying attention.”

Peter dragged a hand down his stubble.

“Forget about it. Let’s just watch the movie.”

The spiders trailed back into the living room. Gwen reclaimed her spot, to Ham’s chagrin, and Peni squished between Noir and Peter. They both stole some of her snacks and ignored her angry protests.

“Shh.” Peter played the movie again. Gwen dragged up a blanket and draped it over all five of them, a tight fit, and eventually it was argued over, so they had to compromise by getting another blanket. The Ghost of Christmas Past showed Scrooge his unhappy childhood, then his time as a young man, more in love with money than his fiancé.

“That’s how Peter was,” whispered Ham, half-joking. Gwen elbowed him. “ _Ow._ ”

“That’s mean!” Peni loudly whispered back, glaring at the cartoon. She looked up at Peter. He only rolled his eyes, not returning the glance. Benjamin snorted and draped his arm over the couch over Peni. She leaned back into his side, letting him rest a hand on her head. The spiders didn’t make much conversation after that, too immersed in the movie and too comfortable to break their focus.

Benjamin, the only one who hadn’t seen the movie before, morbidly wondered if Tiny Tim would die when the Ghost of Christmas Present took Scrooge to see the Cratchet family. It was odd to feel worry over a fictional character; he was hardly one for cinema in his world, almost never went.

“Does Tim die?” he finally asked.

“You’ll see,” Peni answered vaguely, and that was all he got. He hid his annoyance. He didn’t like being kept in the dark.

Tiny Tim did die in Ghost of Christmas Future’s vision, and Scrooge saw his own death. He had a change of heart— predictable, but satisfying— and woke up on Christmas Day full of excitement. He bought the biggest turkey in the shop for the Cratchit family before spending the day with his nephew. The movie ended, and there was a battle with the blankets as the spiders got up to stretch after being cramped on one couch for so long.

Noir left to the restroom to take a leak. Gwen realized with dismay that her fingers were covered in Cheeto dust and went to rinse them off in the kitchen. Peni had to clean up her snack mess, which wasn’t entirely her own since everyone ate them. They congregated back on the couch when done, all but Peter.

“Did Peter say he was going somewhere?” Ham asked.

The spiders exchanged a look and shrugged.

* * *

Peter slipped in through the window into the messy room once he was sure that Miles’ parents weren’t around. He avoided a pile of clothes on the floor, carefully picking his way towards the bed. Miles shifted and raised his head out from his covers.

“What’s up Scrooge?” he greeted hoarsely. He felt a little down about not being able to watch the movie with them, but Peter made a fair point that he was still in trouble, and still sick on top of that.

“You don’t know how many times I’ve gotten that already,” B groaned, leaning against the wall. From where he was he could see the faded, healing, but visible marks on Miles’ neck. He wondered how the kid’s parents took that. “You okay?”

Miles coughed, sitting up further to fix Peter with a flat look. “What do you think?”

“Right, sorry.”

Peter sighed, taking his attention off of Miles neck to make eye-contact, which only lasted a second before he tore his eyes away to blankly stare straight ahead.

“Just wanted to check on you,” he spoke as casually as possible.

Miles gave him a wry smile. “Thanks Spider-Dad,” he said, voice practically dripping with sarcasm. But it was fond, no heat behind it.

Peter scoffed. He tried to hide his embarrassment by turning his head, which of course, didn’t work.

“Shut up,” he grouched. Though a large part of him felt joy at the comment. He held onto that feeling instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favorite things is when Noir is rlly dumb and confused over technology. I think it’s cute. And Peter B is still a bit grumpy from yesterday but he’s getting over it. Quite a scare tho O.O 
> 
> Sorry this chapter is kinda trash, I kinda broke out of my zone by skipping a day. And like .00001% of y’all might notice I recycled an old fic I took down and there’s bits and pieces of it in here lol. 
> 
> Kudos and comment if you like it cuz why not? It’s the season of giving <3


	8. Stockings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ham gives out stockings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is kinda filler, it’s really more crack than anything but whatever. Another Gwen/Miles chapter is coming tho (maybe not tomorrow bc I won’t rlly be able to write on Christmas Day) 
> 
> Man it’s hard waking up at 3:00 PM and churning out a chapter ugh, like I need to reset my sleep schedule badly. It’s funny how much it’s already gotten messed up after 4 days of being off of school.

“Doll, that can’t possibly be good for you.”

Peni glanced at Noir, back at her pockets, then back at him again to send him a warning glare. She protectively covered her pockets with her hands. The wrappers of candy canes and whatever else in there made a loud rustling, squashed between palm and pocket. He quirked an eyebrow. She kept her cautious stance.

“Where’d ya even get all that candy?”

She didn’t reply. Benjamin blew out a sharp sigh from his nose.

“Peter,” she finally answered, “What’s it to you?”

At that moment, Peter trudged by with a mug of coffee looking like death itself. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open, so he just settled on closing them and let his spider-sense and memory guide him through his apartment. He cracked one eye open as he passed by Peni and Benjamin.

“Don’t look at me. The gremlin practically forced me to buy all that shit,” he grumbled.

“Language,” Benjamin reminded flatly, though he didn’t really seem to care either as he turned back to Peni, who looked rather pleased with herself.

“Have you even eaten this mornin’?” he asked her, a hand on his hip. Peni hesitated. He scrutinized her until she nodded with a “yeah”— a lie— and began to walk away. Noir caught her shoulder and spun her back around, much to her mounting irritation.

“Uh-huh. What did you eat?”

Peni fumbled. “Well—“ Her stomach growled and belied her claims, despite her trying to cover it up by acting nonchalant about it. Noir grinned triumphantly.

 _Gotcha_.

“Hand it over,” he ordered, holding his hands out. Her eyes went wide. She covered her candy and backed away. He closed the distance with one stride. “Calm down. I’ll give it back once ya get a proper meal in.”

Peni looked suspicious, but Noir was more often than not a man of his word. She relented. “Fine.” She dug the candy out and dropped it into his hands. Benjamin struggled to keep it from spilling out of his palms and pocketed it in the black sweatshirt Peter B let him borrow. He headed into the kitchen, passed the microwave, which he now had a particular distaste for, and started opening drawers and cabinets until he found a pan. Peni watched, somewhat puzzled.

“You like omelettes?” he asked, taking out an egg carton from the fridge. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“You know how to cook?”

He regarded her with a blank stare through his thick lenses. “I have to know. I live alone doll, and in my time there ain’t a lot of fast food joints,” he explained, “like Peter goes to.”

Peni giggled. “That’s true.” She opened the fridge again to take out a bag of shredded cheese. “I like cheese on mine.”

“Get some bacon too,” he told her, turning on the electric stove top. He was initially startled by how it lit up red, but it wasn’t different from the silver flames in his universe, just a way to tell if it was on and hot.

He found a bottle of vegetable oil and poured some into the pan. He grabbed a bowl and started cracking eggs into it; he decided 3 would be enough, and stirred in some cheese. He set another oiled pan on the stove and placed thick pieces of bacon into it, before pouring in the beaten eggs in the other pan. Peni stood by his side while he cooked, observing how he switched between the omelette and bacon.

“Go sit,” he said as he finished and turned off the heat on both, sliding the pans over. He slid her omelette onto a plate and added two pieces of piping hot bacon on the side. He turned around, but didn’t expect to see Peter right behind him. He cursed, almost bumping into him. Peter just blinked. Noir huffed.

He snuck up on people. People didn’t sneak up on _him_.

Peni laughed from the table. He directed a hard glare at her, then at Peter.

“You better not have just raided my fridge without making me something,” the older spider said, pointing accusingly at the plate. “Your money is grey. I don’t think you can pay me back.”

Benjamin rolled his eyes. “I made this for the kid. She hasn’t had breakfast yet.”

“I don’t care. You used my groceries.”

“Are you kiddin’ me?”

“No.” Peter crossed his arms. No amount of glaring made him budge. Benjamin ultimately groaned in defeat.

“Fine, just lemme give this to Peni.”

And so he (begrudgingly) made an omelette for Peter. Peni had already eagerly finished hers, and received her candy in return, though he wasn’t too happy about that either. Then just when he thought he was done, Gwen and Ham arrived.

“Hi guys...“ Gwen paused after she came through the portal and set her stuff down. She looked to the stove, spotting the eggy bowl and open carton. “Oh, are you making omelettes? Can I get one?”

“Honey—“ Benjamin tried. He was getting tired of this real quick.

“Aw, please?”

He did not know why he caved, but he did. Ham stood on the counter, watching him make another in smug amusement.

“You just can’t say no, can you?” he remarked. Benjamin’s eye twitched.

“Shut up,” he growled, but he couldn’t argue that it wasn’t a true statement. Then he froze and gave the pig a pleading look. “Please tell me ya don’t want one too.”

Ham shook his head in disgust. “I don’t eat eggs, or any meat for that matter, thank you.” Benjamin sighed in relief. “I actually came here because I’m working late tonight and won’t be able to hand out stockings, so I’m doing that now.”

“You have stockings??” Peni squealed, hopping up from the table. Peter and Gwen took interest too, gathering around the counter. Noir glanced down, mystified. He didn’t even notice the stockings before.

“Ho ho ho,” Ham joked with a chortle. He started to pass them out, one by one. Peni got hers first and grinned. She instantly rewarded Ham with a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you!”

Surprised, Benjamin stopped cooking for a moment, wondering what could possibly warrant this response. He peered inside her stocking and gaped in disbelief at what he saw: it was filled with nothing but candy.

He slid a hand down his face. “Oh my _God_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of my headcanons: Noir is a pretty good cook, actually. Peter B can cook too, just, not as good. (Shh don’t tell him). Peni is obsessed with sugar & candy, (credit that to AnimationNut, it’s really her headcanon). And lastly, Noir can’t say no to his Spider-Family and will do pretty much anything for them :P 
> 
> Anyway I’m so sorry for the wait, and that the chapter is more on the short side. I know this is taking eons, but I’m slow. That’s just how it be sometimes. (K but seriously, who’s actually reading this?)
> 
> Comments, kudos, same jazz I’ve been saying for the last 7 chapters, go ahead and tell me if you like this :) and have a MERRY FRIGGIN CHRISTMAS y’all <3


	9. Eggnog & Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen and Miles go to a party. Things go south quicker than expected.
> 
> Warning: Heavy language and underage drinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole day has been chaotic. I had to go on a three hour road trip to my dad's side of the family. On that car ride I found out that AnimationNut gifted me something almost 4 days ago and I hadn't read it, so I felt really bad about that. 
> 
> ITS GREAT BTW! Check out AnimationNut's page she's got a new Christmas Spider-Verse fic posted and I love it to death. Thank you AnimationNut ;))
> 
> And on top of all this I've been trying to write this chapter and only just now finished, at 3:00 AM. At last. And something that I've come to realize is that I shouldn't set unrealistic expectations for myself. So I'm going for quality instead of quantity from now on. Here u go guys! A Gwen/Miles chapter.

Gwen: U still sick? 

Miles: Definitely better than I was, but yeah.

Gwen: Feel good enough to go to a party w/ me? It’s something some kids from my school are throwing. Thought it’d be fun.

Miles: I’m down. My parents don’t get back from work until 9:00.

Gwen: Dude, they have to work on Christmas Eve? That’s shitty.

Miles: Ikr? It really sucks. When’s the party?

Gwen: In like an hour, so hurry up.

Miles: K, I gotta take a shower. Meet you there?

Gwen: Sure. I’ll text you the place.

* * *

  
Gwen rang the doorbell twice. Miles observed the sizable crowd of swarming teens inside the two-story house through the windows. Obscene music blared obnoxiously, it echoed throughout the whole plot, vibrating his feet. He swallowed a creeping feeling of anxiety. At last, Gwen grew impatient and banged on the door. A tall upperclassman with brunette curls and blue eyes opened it, nearly swinging it into Miles’ face. “Oh hey, it’s Gwen,” he called back in a bored tone. Another teen, a platinum blonde, who by the look of her _very_ suggestive attire was most likely the one throwing the party, squeezed by the guy’s side. 

“What’s up loner?” she greeted through her open gum smacking. She took her time in scanning Miles up and down. She wasn’t impressed. Miles blinked at the thumb jabbed at him. “Who’s this kid?” 

“This is Miles. He’s my friend,” Gwen smoothly introduced him, though it felt borderline defensive.

“Hey.” Miles gave a single wave and shoved his hands in his hoodie. He was trying to be chill about it, but the girl was making him uncomfortable. On top of that, his throat was growing intensely itchy. He held back a threatened coughing fit. Easier said than done. The girl ignored him, focusing back on Gwen.

“Huh? Thought you didn’t do friends,” she remarked, leaning into her boyfriend thoughtfully. 

“Changed my mind,” deadpanned Gwen. “So you gonna let us in, or...?”

The girl snorted, but moved aside with an arm hooked in her boyfriend’s. “Make yourselves at home. And trash the place up while you’re at it.” A mischievous smile played on her glistening red lips. “To say Merry fucking Christmas to my parents.”

Miles didn’t think she was joking. 

Gwen chuckled dryly. “Sure.” She grabbed Miles’ wrist and pulled him away into the sea of junior high to high school students, tuning out his objections. They came to an abrupt stop in the median of teens, and Miles stumbled and stopped by Gwen. His stomach made its displeasure known by a slight nauseous churning. 

He looked back over his shoulder to try and spot the hostess, but she was lost in the crowd. “How can someone hate their parents that much?” he ventured to ask with a hint of distaste. Gwen shrugged. 

“Not everyone has good parents, Miles. We’re lucky to have ours and each other.” He knew she was partly referring to their odd family of spiders. “She’s been neglected her whole life.”

A sharp pang of new sympathy hit Miles. He felt guilty for how he viewed her before. As raunchy as she seemed, she didn’t exactly have a stable home life, and she was kind enough to invite Gwen, loner exhibit A, to her party. So maybe she wasn’t all bad. Miles rubbed at the back of his neck. “Jeez. Okay, I get it now.”

“Yeah, try not to think about it too much.”

They continued on, weaving in and out of clusters of people, and oncoming traffic from the living room, which was filled to the brim with both Christmas decor and students tearing it down for reckless enjoyment. There was a snack table that was completely swarmed, but Gwen managed to push her way through. Miles held onto her hand like a lifeline. The two spiders emerged at the front after some tribulation, as no one else was keen on making a path or even moving an inch for that matter. Miles copied Gwen in taking a cup and a plate; they moved down the line at the pace of a snail and came across a few creamy white glass bottles of eggnog. They were opened, dripping at the sides, like someone was in a hurry to pour it and didn’t care for the mess. _Well that was a mood._ Miles gingerly picked one up. He tried his best to avoid the sticky sides.

“Is this, y’know—“ he paused, looking to his friend. 

“Spiked?” Gwen finished for him. She didn’t seem at all fazed and brought it to her nose to sniff it. “Probably,” she concluded. Miles gave her a puzzled, cautious look.

“What? This is typical party stuff,” she argued against his suspicious gaze. She poured herself a glass, much to Miles’ horror. She rolled her eyes.

“C’mon, a cup isn’t gonna kill me.” She took a generous sip, then unexpectedly winced. It slid down her throat with the consistency of snot, burning the whole way down. An alcohol of higher caliber was definitely in there. 

Gwen shuddered. “Shit, that’s strong,” she cursed, then, adding on to Miles’ bafflement, she continued drinking it. She wiped her mouth and poured him a cup. The younger spider raised his hands in front of his chest, pushing it away. 

“This is peer-pressure. You’re peer-pressuring me,” he accused, but a smile crept its way onto his lips. The thought of drinking something forbidden by his parents, not to mention the adults of the Spider-Gang, excited him to a degree, but his better side strongly advised against the decision. 

Gwen pouted. “Live a little Miles. It’s just eggnog. Not like it’s hard beer or something,” she coaxed, pushing the cup back towards him. Miles lost the battle then. How could he say no? And she was right. One cup never killed anybody.

He brought the plastic cup to his mouth and took in the sweet, creamy drink. The liquid at first tasted like non-alcoholic eggnog but thinner, until the bitter kick swamped his tongue. One sip was enough to make him feel a buzz. Gwen giggled cutely at his reaction to how warm his face grew. Miles’ brow knitted after he braved the burning sensation. 

“Why am I so warm now?” 

The blonde spider took another sip of hers. “It’s called a buzz. I’m guessing you’ve never had a drink before?” 

“No, because I’m a good kid that doesn’t drink underage?” Miles answered dryly, to which Gwen responded with elbowing his arm, accompanied by an annoyed huff.

“Shut up. You’re doing it right now.”

“True,” Miles said, moving to settle on a plush couch that was surprisingly empty. Gwen fell back on the couch with a breathy _oof._ Miraculously, her drink didn’t spill. They chilled for a while and made light conversation here and there, but weren’t too focused on each other as the party grew wilder when people dropped destroying everything and started to dance. Soon enough their cups were empty, and Miles was feeling a little more than tipsy. He subconsciously noticed that the song choices were actually Christmas related now. Gwen was singing along to one of them, at first as a joke, but then more confidently when the other students badly sang out its chorus.

“All I want for Christmas, is youuu!” 

Miles had to do a double take. “Wait, wait, stop. It’s _what_ I want for Christmas is you.” 

“Who cares about that Miles,” Gwen said, sticking her tongue out at him. The song changed and she suddenly shot up off of the couch. “Dude it’s Feliz Navidad, get up!” 

“Wha—“ Miles didn’t even get a chance before she yanked him up. He yelped at the same time his stomach did an elegant flip in his abdomen. She shoved him into an unorganized group of girls and their less enthusiastic boyfriends line-dancing to the song. Miles, completely lost and dazed, just watched Gwen until he got the main gist of it. She grinned as he got more into it, executing the moves with skill and precision. Both of them gathered a small crowd of fans by the end of the dance. Miles was dizzier than before and wheezing, but he had a fresh burst of energy from all the cheering. 

“I have an idea,” he informed Gwen and left without saying another word. She called after him but he didn’t turn back, instead just raising one finger in the air to “give him a second”. 

It took five minutes. Miles came back with an armful of cans of spray paint, all different colors, some glittery or metallic. Gwen laughed to herself. She knew she couldn’t stay mad at him for ditching her for long. 

“Hey! We’re gonna paint the walls for your parents!!” Miles announced loudly. The cry attracted a lot of attention, specifically from the hostess, who sashayed over in her Santa costume that hardly covered anything at all. She squealed at the sight of the cans. 

“Oh my God!! You have to let me try!” she shouted in pure elation. Gwen took a handful of cans from Miles.

“It’s your house Holly, go crazy.” The Spider-Woman grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Tell your folks I wished them some happy holidays.” 

Holly bounced with joy. Miles let her and her boyfriend have the first go at it. Together they painted a large hand flipping the bird in festive colors. Then, in fancy font, Holly wrote out a big, fat _‘Merry Christmas bitches!’_ on the wall. 

Miles and Gwen were next. Miles painted a beautiful giant Santa Claus while Gwen added details like holly leaves and berries, adding something of a personal touch for Holly. She also painted bows, presents, and then eventually trees with Miles’ assistance. They stood back and admired their masterpiece before letting other party-goers have a turn. The two spiders were about to head back to the table to munch on a few well-earned snacks, but Holly gasped and they froze in confusion.

“You’re standing under the mistletoe!!” she exclaimed. Everyone’s attention turned on them. 

“Huh?” Miles looked up to see a bundle of white berries above them. Gwen groaned. Her face grew beet red— both of theirs did. “Oh no,” she muttered, burying her face in her hands. 

“Kiss!” goaded Holly. Some raucous cheers rang out from the crowd.

“Hold on—“ Miles raised a placating hand. It didn’t stop the chant that arose from one random girl and spread like wildfire.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

Gwen gritted her teeth, redder than ever.   
“Okay, okay! Chill!” she yelled over them. The students fell silent in anticipation. 

Jerks. 

She turned to Miles, who was blushing just as furiously as she was. Neither of them were willing to initiate the kiss. Gwen dissolved into laughter in spite of it all.

“Aren’t you still sick?” she joked.

Miles gave her a semi-nod. He shrugged. “You could kiss it better?” 

She rolled her eyes. “Ew. Don’t.”

“Sorry.”

“Just do it!” a guy called out from the crowd.

Miles was finally the one to go for it first, taking hold of Gwen’s face with two fingers on her jawline. Gwen leaned into it and their lips came millimeters from each other. They hesitated for just a moment before closing the distance. They managed a full kiss and pulled apart. Sadly, the bliss afterwards only lasted a couple of seconds. 

“Dude!!” A blonde guy ran out into the fray, waving his hands frantically. “The cops are here!”

“What?”

“Someone snitched?!”

“Everybody go!”

Distant sirens screamed outside. It was obvious that the police were pulling up to the house to put an end to the chaotic party. Holly began to flip out, and the body of teenagers became a frenzied mass streaming out of the back of her house. 

Gwen cursed. “Grab your cans Miles!” 

Miles chased after his dropped cans that were rolling on the ground as an officer slammed open the door on the other side of the staircase.

“Hurry!” 

Out of breath, Miles ran to the bathroom that Gwen was peeking out from. She deftly locked the door. They both fumbled with their watches and transported out of there as fast as possible, not caring about the destination. In Peter’s universe, they were thrown out of their portals, crashing on the floor of his apartment. There was a startled swear and they looked up from the floor to see Peter B, utterly stupefied at the sight of the two teens and a bunch of spray paint cans on his floor in front of him. 

“Kids?” he breathed out. They all stared at each other in dead silence. Gwen snorted first. Miles could barely hold back his own snickering. The kids burst out into hysterical laughter, dying on Peter's floor. 

Peter came over to help them up—which proved to be more of a struggle than he thought— and righted them on their feet. Their giggle fit continued. He would ask for an explanation eventually, but first they had to stop doubling over. Miles wheezed, he couldn't tell if it was from laughing too hard or from his sickness (maybe both), leaning into Peter for support. He didn't know doing so was a mistake. 

Peter smelled Miles' clothes and breath. He frowned and pulled Gwen to him, who stopped laughing in favor of creasing her pierced eyebrows at his odd behavior. She smelled the same. 

Peter's eyes narrowed. His lips turned down in a sharp, serious scowl. "Have you been _drinking?_ " 

All traces of laughter ceased at the question. Miles and Gwen's eyes widened while Peter's only narrowed further in a deadly glare. 

Gwen gulped. "Oh crap."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn that eggnog had like the Jack Daniels whiskey in it, idiots shouldn't have gone to Peter's universe, smh.
> 
> And MORE of my headcanons: Gwen is sort of a bad egg and a party girl, Miles will more often than not follow in Gwen's footsteps because she is an example, and Peter has a hatred for drinking because he used to get drunk over MJ a lot (plus he's dad TM and the kids should NOT be drinking)
> 
> Don't drink kids! (Me not being able to say anything because I sneak drinks in sometimes) 
> 
> If you like then please let me know by comments or kudos! (Actually both for New Year's luck)


	10. Presents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Spider-Fam, time-permitting, celebrates Christmas at MJ's on the 28th.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at 6:00 AM! Boy am I glad I didn't orphan this fic. I was tempted to at times but that was just me being insecure. I need to relax. Not being on time isn't the end of the world, though sometimes it may feel like it -.- Can't help being late when I get a shitty flu anyways  
> ;( 
> 
> But that's enough about me guys just read the chapter I guess, tho I don't rlly like it cuz I was wrestling with my massive writers block the whole time. At least it's longer than most of the fic tho :P Have fun! And Happy Belated New Year!

“You don’t have Santa Claus??”

Peni clicked her tongue. She took a quick sip of her tea and leaned forward to set the mug on a festive red and green coaster. “Nope. The future doesn’t promote the idea of a creepy fat man in red trespassing down people’s chimneys and eating their cookies in the middle of the night.” 

“Understandable," Gwen mused, shrugging, "What else is banned in the future?”

“For Christmas it’s real trees and some wrapping papers, and we don’t have genetically engineered poultry or meat.” Her face twisted into the expression of disgust she made whenever she thought something was especially barbaric. Gwen and Miles didn’t know if they should take offense at that, but Peni recovered and continued, “But in general there’s no paper towels, plastic straws—“

“The VSCO girls saved the turtles?” Miles interjected randomly, earning an unimpressed look from Gwen. 

Peni’s brow creased. “...What?”

“Normie meme, Miles.”

“What? It’s not old, it’s all over TokTik right now.”

“Oh, the VSCO girl thing ended months ago in my universe.”

Peter groaned from MJ’s kitchen, poking his head out from the corner to eye the teens on the couch. “If you three keep talking about TikTok I’m going to get a headache.” 

“Alright boomer,” Gwen called out, completely ignoring him. Miles and Peni wordlessly followed her example. Peter glowered at them and moodily returned to helping MJ cut her pies, but he soon forgot the minor insult when she directed her captivating smile at him. 

Noir gingerly removed the turkey from the oven before looking to Peter in bemusement. “Boomer?”

“Ahead of your time.”

“Ah.”

They started to set the food that was finished down the center of the table, and had to watch like hawks to guard the feast from hungry teenagers. Unsurprisingly though, Peter was the greatest threat and hypocrite, blocking hands one second, then getting his own smacked the next by MJ. Finally, after multiple offenses, she shot him a reproving glare and guided him away from the table.

Miles snickered. "You're just as bad as the rest of us Peter." He surreptitiously reached a finger down to swipe some icing, but MJ caught him out of her peripheral. 

"Alright, get out," she ordered, shooing the offenders out of her kitchen with a hand. Peter nodded as he picked off a piece of turkey and popped it in his mouth. “Mhm, go."

“You too idiot!" MJ huffed and forcibly shoved him away from the spread. Peter squawked, stumbling towards the living room. Hurt, he glanced back pleadingly. The fiery glare he recieved was not one to be messed with. He smartly dropped the matter and turned tail to follow the rest of the evicted. 

MJ rolled her eyes. “You're the only one I can trust," she turned around to tell Benjamin. He cracked a soft smile. 

“Can I take that from you?” he offered, pointing to the Crockpot of mashed potatoes in her hands. She peered down at it and nodded, passing it over. He placed the heavy pot on the table with the other food. 

She beamed at him. “Thank you.”

"It's no problem sweetheart," he returned, allowing her to balance plates on his hands and arms. As he was laying them down in a stack on the counter, he glimpsed Peni sneaking a can of snatched Reddi-Wip out of her hoodie and raising it to her mouth. 

“ _Peni._ ”

She glanced over and rapidly sped up the process, spraying a mountain of it into her mouth before he could get to her. He tried to swipe the can from her, but she twisted away from his reach while simulanteously struggling to swallow the whipped cream without making a mess. 

She got to the point where she could at least speak, and she held out a hand.   
“Wait, wait, wait! Have you ever tried this?" she questioned, eyeing him warily.

"No and I don't plan to right now—"

Peter strolled by and snatched the Reddi-Wip out of Peni’s tight grip, to which she cried out in protest, but he payed her no mind. Benjamin chuckled, sending Peni a smug look until he heard a _‘ksshh’_. He turned to see Peter showering an even more generous amount in his mouth. Once he was finished, he approached Noir with it raised like some sort of weapon.

"Open your mouth.” 

Benjamin’s expression scrunched into one of aversion. “No,” he denied him. Peni pouted.

"C'mon, it's not gonna kill you,” Peter coaxed further. Benjamin mulled it over for a moment. He gave an annoyed sigh.

"Alright, but ya better not try anything.” He opened his mouth and slightly leaned his head back. Peter hummed in approval. He sprayed a little into Benjamin’s mouth, allowing the black and white man some time to let his guard down, and once he seemed relaxed enough, Peter hastily reached the can up, pouring heaps onto his nose, then on both lenses of his already smudged glasses. 

Noir spluttered, slow to react but quick to see red. Peni wisely moved out of the way, giggling the whole time as he chased down Peter. A portal opened next to her and Ham stepped out with an armful of cartoony gifts to witness Benjamin aggressively covering Peter’s face in whipped cream. 

The pig blinked. “Woah, wish I was here to see what started this."

* * *

“I can hardly see what I’m doin’,” Benjamin griped. MJ had taken his glasses to clean them while he and Peter were made to wipe up the floor, which in his opinion should have been Peter’s job alone. He blindly reached out in his direction. “Hand me a paper towel.”

Peter glimpsed Noir’s open hand. “Get them yourself.” 

Benjamin’s face darkened. Gwen rolled her eyes and handed the roll to him. They kept cleaning in tense silence, neither doing so much as looking at the other. 

Miles leaned over to Peni’s side to peek down at the phone in her hands.  
“Are you getting all this?” he whispered.

“Every second.” She ended her current video and scrolled back to show him the previous fight. Ham and Gwen gathered round; they all huddled close, barely stifling their laughter throughout the whole video. Peter’s eye twitched and he sighed, wiping up the last of the cream. 

“Let’s just eat,” he said in defeat. 

The table was already set so there was just the matter of serving to deal with. At first there was some civility in passing food around, but the order soon dissolved as they began to reach over each other. Eventually there was an unspoken rule of one at a time, and the process went much smoother from there. The three younger spiders loaded their plates and started eating immediately. Peter loudly cleared his throat, waiting for them to look up. They did to see everyone else holding hands, before sheepishly scrambling to join their hands to say grace. Once Peter wrapped it up the room was filled with bustling noise as people dove in. 

“This is so good,” Miles complemented through a mouthful. The corners of Gwen’s mouth turned down in disgust. He blinked. “What?”

She sighed, looking to MJ. “Thanks for inviting us over, this wouldn’t be the same without your cooking.” 

Peter nearly melted at MJ’s bubbly laugh. She gave Gwen a vibrant smile. “You’re always welcome here, you’re family,” she told her, leaning into Peter’s side, “thank you.”

Peter nodded in agreement, wrapping an arm around her. Peni stopped shoving a pastry into her mouth to gush at them. Ham was already done with his plate and going for dessert as well, shoveling a piece of pie on. Peni finished her pastry and slid her plate away, scooting her chair back. 

“May I be excused?” she asked politely. Noir shook his head, pointing a finger at what was left on her plate, the only part she avoided like the plague. 

“Eat some greens.” She let out a moan of despair and sunk down low into her seat. “Don’t make a show of it,” he scolded, “eat ‘em.”

She reluctantly obliged, spearing the green bean casserole with her fork. Miles watched her in disbelief. “How do you not like green bean casserole?”

She stuck her tongue out at him and stuck the beans into her mouth, chewing sullenly. Gwen smirked at her antics and asked to be excused. She was granted freedom from the table and put her dishes into the sink before returning to the living room. Miles did the same and followed after her, leaving Peni alone at the table. She shot them a betrayed look and shoved most of the rest of the casserole in her mouth. Ham chuckled, deciding to end her suffering. “Alright kid, you can go now.”

Peni wasted no time in her escape. She scraped the greens into the trash as politely as she could— though still felt a bit guilty about it— and put the plate in the sink on top of Gwen's and Miles’, before joining them around the presents. 

“Uh-uh, get away from those,” Peter called. Miles retracted his hand from the bag he was peering into. 

“Guess we better do presents now,” he said with a resigned sigh and stood up to stretch. MJ took their plates, then her own, and gave Peter a quick peck on the cheek as she passed back into the kitchen. Ham took one last bite of pie and hopped down to migrate into the other room. Benjamin headed over with Peter and MJ. 

“Are we gonna do them individually or like..” ventured Gwen. Peter shrugged. “Nah I don’t care. Just open them.”

Gwen grinned. “Nice.” She reached under the full, glistening Christmas tree to search for her presents. Miles pulled out the one he was looking at earlier and removed the tissue paper to reveal some brand new spray paints of different varieties, and new brushes and charcoal pencils. He exclaimed something Spanish in excitement and read the tag. 

“Thanks Peter!”

Peter snorted. “You’re welcome, but I’m not sure I should let you use them after what you did on Christmas Eve.”

“What did he do?” asked Benjamin. Miles and Gwen’s eyes snapped to Peter, staring at him pleadingly. Peter was about to say something but he saw them waving their hands and shaking their heads, silently screaming at him to keep their secret. Gwen even went as far as to draw her finger across her neck threateningly, earning a giggle from MJ.

He rolled his eyes. _Fine._ “I’ll tell you later,” he replied flatly. Benjamin raised an eyebrow. Thankfully he quickly dropped the subject as a gift was handed to him. The tag read “From Peni, Gwen and Miles” and had a large smiley drawn on it in silver Sharpie. Underneath the wrapping that he discarded on the floor was a cardboard box with the logo _Amazon_ on it. He carefully opened it. Inside was a silky blue sweater. He pressed his hand against it, rubbing the fabric and feeling its softness in between his fingers. “Thanks kids,” he said in a voice that border-lined on a whisper, “I love it.” 

Peni beamed. “You’re welcome! Blue is your favorite color, right?” 

He nodded. 

“We stole one of your shirts to get your size,” Gwen confessed casually. Miles chuckled. Benjamin gave them both an incredulous look. “Oh, so that’s where it went.”

Ham dragged over a box of his own, passing it to Peni. She tore it open viciously and yanked out some cartoonish Heelys. She pulled the pig in for a hug. “These look so cool!” she exclaimed, “Do they defy physics?”

“You betcha! Merry late Christmas!” 

Ham gave Gwen and Miles two more boxes. They also got a pair of Heelys, but in different colors and sizes. In return Ham got sweaters and coffee mugs, along with a tea kettle, while Gwen started opening her other gifts.

“Aw sick—“ she raised her crop-tops up and shot finger-guns, “this is lit MJ.” She also got a new hoodie and a few gift cards.

“You’re welcome.”

Miles picked up a whole bunch of gifts and dropped them in front of MJ and Peter. “These are for you guys, from us.”

The first one they opened was from Miles. It was a realistic portrait of them, but not so realistic that one couldn’t make out Miles’ style. It looked professional, careful. Intricate. Peter widely grinned. “This is great bud,” he praised, astounded. He held the frame out in the warm yellow light of the Christmas tree. “When did you sneak the picture to draw this?” 

Miles half-lifted his shoulders. He rubbed the back of his head. “A few weeks ago.”

MJ drew him in for a hug. “It’s beautiful. You have so much talent,” she gushed. Miles couldn’t help but smile and feel warmth blossom inside of him from the praise. Peter opened the next present, which was obviously from Noir since it was a slender monochrome package. 

“Champagne?” He pulled out the bottle of silvery alcohol. 

Benjamin nodded. “Stuff was damn hard to get last year with the Prohibition, but the law finally eased up,” he elaborated. “Hope the color doesn’t bother ya.”

“Nope, thanks man.” B carefully placed the bottle back into its package. They opened Peni and Gwen’s present next, which was a sharp new suit for Peter and dress for MJ. Neither of them divulged how they got the money to buy the clothes, giving excuses like “allowance” and “connections”. Peter guessed that they probably used leverage as Spider-Woman and SP//DR to get what they needed. Last but not least was Ham’s gift of kitchen utensils, like pots and pie pans. The rest of the gifts for the family were mainly gift cards and cash, to which no one was really objecting, and a harder Rubik’s cube for Benjamin from Peter.

“Hey, is this from you?” Miles slowly asked Noir. There was one unnoticed shiny dark grey, almost black wrapped box tucked behind the tree, standing out loudly in contrast to the bright tree skirt. The man seemed to grow embarrassed. His lenses obscured his eyes. “It’s to everyone,” he answered.

Miles brought it out to the middle of the room to allow anyone else who wanted to open it access. Gwen opened it with him and reached in first to find her fingers pressing against cool glass. She pulled out one picture frame, then five more. They all had the same black and white print of the gang hanging out. Despite the lack of color, the picture was full of life. The only downside was that Benjamin wasn’t in it. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give a better gift, job isn’t payin’ too well this year and—“

“Stop,” Peni said firmly as she picked one up, “it’s a perfect gift.” She held it protectively against her chest. “But I wish you were in it.”

Noir smiled softly. While he didn’t think it was perfect, she was right: he was being too hard on himself. “I know doll. Thank you.” He reached over to smooth her hair, but she leaned into the touch more than expected and threw her arms around his midsection. His hands hovered in the air, unsure of what to do. Gwen stood up to embrace him from the side. Miles latched on to the other side, then Ham, MJ— this was getting overwhelming very fast— and finally Peter. Benjamin attempted to wrap his arms around all of them, swallowing a thick lump in his throat.

“MJ and I actually have another gift for everyone,” Peter announced, keeping a poker face as he detached from the hug. MJ smiled and stood by his side. He pulled her to him. 

“Peter proposed to me last week,” MJ began and revealed a tiny black container from her pocket. He took it from her and popped it open to show the ring. “We’re getting remarried!” Peter finished excitedly, and it took a moment, but the room burst into overlapping exclamations of joy and congratulations. 

“You did it Peter!” Ham yelled, jumping up to clap him on the back. Benjamin gave them both a firm pat on the shoulder with a rare grin on his scarred face. Gwen crossed her arms at the sight in front of her. She shook her head in awe and disbelief. This was definitely a surprise. 

“Can I be the flower girl??” Peni asked, jumping around animatedly. Peter chuckled. “Sure I guess.”

Miles outstretched his arms. He was choked up, trying to hold it in as best as he could, but it was a battle he was losing. Harder than it looked. “I think this calls for another hug man.”

Peter looked to MJ before nodding, reaching out his free arm. “Yeah, c’mere.”

They came back together in a close circle, holding tightly to each other. Peter’s hold on the back of Miles’ head tightened slightly, he brought the kid’s head to his chest, feeling his warmth on him and MJ and his family snuggling closer to him. 

“Thank you so much guys...” He let go to wipe the brimming tears out of his eyes. He exhaled a shuddering breath of contentment. “You’re the ones who got me here.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a piece of advice to all writers out there, even though I'm still an amateur: DON'T lose yourself. There are tons of writers that will be better than you out there. You may think their style of writing or whatever is better than yours, and you might think that you should change your style to try to be like them. That doesn't make you better at all. It just makes you lose your own style. You lose what's you. The reason why the other authors are better is because they have more experience and have perfected their own style. In conclusion, perfect YOUR style. Be you. Get better. Don't conform to what others are doing. Very important lesson I've learned.
> 
> Anyway kudos and comment on the chapter of you liked it, it helps so much! Love y'all forever 😔👊 Bye for now!
> 
> (At this point I'm not even gonna say I'm done with Spider-Verse bc every time I do I come back to it)


End file.
